Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Kmart have settled three products liability
lawsuits over patio furniture that the plaintiffs said either injured
or amputated their fingers. The terms of the defective furniture settlements
are confidential.
However, all three complaints claimed that the legs of the lounge chairs
act like “a guillotine” for hands and fingers that may get
stuck between the chair and its legs. They contend that the legs are defective
and are prone to snapping forward. The plaintiffs include a 67-year-old
woman, who lost two fingers, a 22-year-old college student, whose right
ring finger was amputated, and a girl, then age 4, whose left pinky fingertip
was snipped off.
Just last week, phil&teds USA Inc. and the Consumer Product Safety
Commission recalled 54,000 “metoo” Clip-on Chairs over concerns
that these child seats pose a fall and an amputation hazard. Of the numerous
reports of injuries, two of them involved the amputation, laceration,
pinching, or crushing of kids’ fingers. The risk of serious head
injuries during fall accidents was also a concern. It was just this May
that the CPSC issued an alert warning consumers to stop using the chairs
because they were dangerous.
Last month, approximately 20,000 Task Force 5-ton electric log splitters
were recalled by the the CPSC and Changzhou Globe Tool Group Co. Ltd.
because the product poses amputation and laceration risks to consumers
that place hands on the splitter’s handle while its in operation.
At least two people have suffered finger injuries, including an 18-year-old
whose fingertip was amputated.
Of course, who could forget the recall of about 1 million Maclaren double
and single umbrella strollers following reports of of a number of kids
sustaining amputation injuries in 2009. For a product made for children
to be unsafe enough that the boy/girl risks finger amputation is unacceptable.
In early 2010, Graco also recalled 1.5 million strollers following fingertip
amputations and lacerations to kids.

Fingertip Amputation Fingertip amputations are incredibly painful and they can cause disfigurement
and disability. Hopefully, the fingertip can be reattached or repaired,
but this can also be a very painful procedure. A person who uses his/hands
hands for employment purposes may not be able to work for a while, which
can lead to additional financial losses.
You want to work with experienced products liability lawyers that know
how to help the victims of defective or dangerous products obtain damages
from the manufacturer, seller, and/or distributor responsible for a faulty
product that caused personal injury or wrongful death. There is no acceptable
reason for why you or your child should get hurt because of a defective
product. Even if the manufacturer wasn’t negligent, you may still
be able to recover damages for injuries or a death caused by a product.
3 Settle Injury Lawsuits Over Martha Stewart Chair, Insurance Journal, August 15, 2011
Consumer Product Safety Commission